Listening to Any Answers and Labour is getting a barrage of abuse from former supporters over the 10pence tax rate issue . Hardly surprising given Angela Eagle's terrible performance on Any Questions. This is a woman who, until she got a job in Government , purported to be "soft left." and even chaired the LabOUR Commission on Party Democracy How depressing, if predictable, to hear her defending the indefensible ......and getting barracked by an angry audience.
Saturday, 19 April 2008
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7 comments:
I thought she was rather good, especially on immigration, where she was far more progressive than I would usually expect from a government representative
I wonder if the abuse is coming from people like the two "lifelong Labour voters" I canvassed last week. On checking the records it turned out that one never votes and the other only occasionally. Both had been identified more than once as "against" Labour in canvasses over the last two decades. Beware of shameless Tory propagandists exploiting this issue and beware of some alleged Labour supporters who help them.
Not saying it isn't an issue or that it hasn't been poorly handled but it's worth reminding people what the basic rate of income tax was in 1997 (clue it was a lot more than 20%). It's a shame that some alleged Labour supporters seem to have forgotten all the good that has been done over the last 11 years and prefer to harp on about mistakes. Still some alleged Labour supporters seem to favour the impotence and ideological certainties of opposition to the hard slog of government...
It may be true that the there has never been a basic rate of income tax lower than 20%; the point however is that we introduced a 10% rate for good and just reasons.
Taxation is a critical issue that has to about philosophy which is based on means. Regardless of credits and benefits the notion of removing the lower tax threshold is ultimatley politically inept as well as irrational. It contradicts a very clear and politically pluralistic understanding of social justice - something Thatcher failed to understand with the poll tax and which eventually led to her downfall.
Brown thinks he will tough this out - but he won't. He will make expensive tax credit concessions as it gets worse. Unfortunately, it is probably all too late and he will be remembered as the Labour PM that raised taxes on the poor. For a clever man he makes some stupid mistakes.
No I don't favour opposition, Brian. I'm sick and tired of hearing that crap from New Labour apologists. The 10pence tax rate cut is indefensible.It will cost Labiour hundreds of seats at the local elections . And the way brown is behaving, opposition is more of a certainty day by day.
Brian, your attempt to implicitly equate "the hard slog of government" with "policies which are just plain tactically and politically wrong" really doesn't wash anymore. Brown, and New Labourism generally, are the causes of this mess - to seek to find a way out of this by simply playing the tired old sneery game of "blame the critics" is unconvincing and disingenuous.
The point is that the tax system has now become so flat that there is little progressive left about it.
What is needed is to take the poor out of tax altogether....
Another right wing top table and audiance on Question Time what do you expect
Angela Eagle could have hardly slagged off the Labour Governmnet with 2 weeks until elections
I thought she did OK
maybe shes not that Left wing, but at least shes Left of centre...which in this PLP is something
Sont forget most CLP's voted for their candidates/MP's why they dont hold them to account is another matter
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